When Men Lay the Bible Down

The Bible is the best book in the world. Someone has said, “The Bible contains the best law, the golden Rule; the best philosophy, a contented mind; the best statesmanship, self-government; the best war, that is against one’s own weakness; the best medicine, cheerfulness and temperance in all things; the best music, the laughter of an innocent soul; the best art, painting a smile on the face of childhood; the best diplomacy, the effecting of a treaty of peace with our conscience; the best engineering, the building of a bridge of faith across the river of death.”

Despite all the good that the Bible has done and is doing, there are people who disrespect that sacred volume, contradict its holy contents, and audaciously change its infallible truths. It is a sad and sinful day when men lay the Bible down, read I Tim. 4:1,2 and 2 Tim. 4:3,4. False doctrine and fables are being preached in many public places today simply because men have laid the Bible down.

In the days of the apostles, there was only one church and the government of the church was no higher than the local church, each congregation having a plurality of elders. But within 150 years after Jesus returned to his Heavenly Father; MEN LAID THE BIBLE DOWN AND CHANGED THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. They set up chief elders or bishops over the other elders and later over the other congregation. In 325 A.D. MEN LAID THE BIBLE DOWN AGAIN, the 318 exalted bishops met at Nicea and wrote the Nicene Creed, the first human creed after the establishment of the church.

This opened the door for nearly 2,000 creeds that are in the religious world today. In spite of the sacred declaration of not adding to or subtracting from the word of God (Rev. 22:18,19); they publicly declared that the Bible was not sufficient, contradicted the Bible and changed the Bible. In 606 A.D. MEN LAID THE BIBLE DOWN AGAIN and came up with the First Pope, Boniface III, thus rejecting Christ as the only head of the church. (Col. 1:18) Thus, the Roman Catholic church was developed having its own head, own church laws, own form of government, and system of worship.

Dr. Eugene Lawton is an international evangelist, a defender of the faith, a veteran preacher, a radio and television evangelist, a successful writer of four books and a great church builder. He has been minister of the Newark Church of Christ, Newark, New Jersey for forty-five years. Contact: Newark Church of Christ, 894 S. 14th St. Newark, NJ 07108. Tele: (973) 374-4563.